ss Great Britain Director Matthew Tanner accepts the Gulbenkian award with Chairman Roger Smedley MBE. © Jon Pratty/24 Hour Museum
The Director of ss Great Britain has responded to last night’s capture of the Gulbenkian Museum of the year prize by hailing it as a victory for the people of Bristol, for the UK’s historic ships and for maritime heritage.
The ship, which was the world’s first great ocean liner, was awarded the £100,000 Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries during a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects on May 25 2006.
Speaking after the award, Matthew Tanner, director of ss Great Britain said: “I’m very grateful for the way the public has responded to what we have done with what may have been seen by many as a rusty old bucket and to what was previously seen as a bit of engineering history, something for dads to enjoy and nobody else. Now that has changed.”
“I think that we can say much more strongly that our maritime heritage and our historic ships really do and can engage with people of all kinds and all ages and for me that is a really wonderful thing,” he added.
The moment of truth... members of staff from ss Great Britain react to the news. © Jon Pratty/24 Hour Museum
“We have such a rich maritime heritage that perhaps for some time has been rather out on the cold. Historic ships have been something of a Cinderella in the heritage world for some time. I really do hope now we can say this is it for historic ships and our maritime heritage.”
After a 35-year battle to preserve the historic ship, the ss Great Britain was relaunched in July 2005 in her birthplace at Bristol’s Western Dockyard. A giant sea of glass acts as dehumidification system that halts the rampant corrosion in her iron hull.
Above the water line the ship has been kitted out as it would have been with all the sights, sounds and smells of a pioneering voyage to Australia. Visitors can explore this world for themselves from the basic functionality of third class berths through to the opulence of a first class ladies boudoir.
Alongside is a Dockyard Museum where imaginative displays chart the history of Brunel’s masterpiece and the stories of those who sailed with her and rescued her.
James Naughtie hosted the awards at RIBA in London. © Jon Pratty/24 Hour Museum
BBC radio presenter James Naughtie hosted the awards and he told the 24 Hour Museum how the judges had been faced with a strong shortlist that also included Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the Collection in Lincolnshire and the Hunterian Museum in London, but had been ‘bowled over’ by the ship and what it offers the visitor.
“The amazing thing about this prize is the diversity,” said James. “You get our industrial archaeology, you get our castles in terms of places of ancient interest, you get modern sculpture. And the judges had to find something and what they discovered when they went to Bristol was something that completely bowled them over.”
“Robert (Winston) says that in the end it was unanimous, they all thought the short list of four was terrific and as a trustee I’ve seen the shortlist and I think this was the strongest, it’s a great winner.”
Chair of judges Professor Robert Winston heaped praise on all the entrants but singled out the winner as having both quality and accessibility.
“The ss Great Britain works on all sorts of levels,” he said. “It combines social and engineering history in a remarkable way and it is immediately accessible to people of all ages. We saw children going round saying ‘I don’t want to leave, dad’, the objects can be handled by everybody and there’s no suggestion of having locked doors.”
Staff from ss Great Britain celebrate their win. © Jon Pratty/24 Hour Museum
For the winners, the prize has come as a valued reward for a lot of hard work. “We’re absolutely elated,” said Matthew Tanner, “it’s unbelievable, it’s really a fantastic feeling. I thought we were in with a shout but the shortlist was so strong that it could have been any of them, but for the ship and all the people who worked on her we are really pleased.”
The £100,000 prize money has already been earmarked for a project that will complete the presentation of the ship as it was launched in 1843. “We are very grateful for the money, we have no public money coming in, we are entirely independent,” added Matthew. “The priority is the first three masts, they have to be repaired and this money will pretty much cover that.”
The ss Great Britain now also becomes, for one year, the holder of the Prize Trophy – an enamelled silver bowl designed by Vladimir Bohm and the holder of the title ‘Museum of the Year.’
